Blue Eyes Blind
by electrickpanda
Summary: Hershel saw the way Daryl Dixon was staring at his youngest and he saw she was staring right back and at that moment he knew Beth's life would never be the same. "Looks like Little Red found the Big Bad Wolf". Yes, it's a Walking Dead AU Bethyl Werewolf fic. Deal.
1. Night of the Hunter

*Peeks out*  
Hi!  
After more than a decade reading fan fiction of all genres and varying degrees of smuttiness I have finally broken and am now posting something for the world to read.  
(Blame jaimek45. She's the one who made me all excited and confident. Go read her stuff by the way. It'll fill you with Bethyl joy)  
I'm aware vegetasbubbles also has a Bethyl werewolf story and I'm following hers but come on, we can all look at Daryl and see an animal. A sexy, adorable animal.  
So expect snark and smut. This isn't going to get dark and it's really just an excuse to have Beth call Daryl a grumpy puppy.  
Be gentle kind reviewers. I am but a humble woman kneeling at the alter of The Walking Dead.

* * *

Daryl Dixon had a vast amount of experience carrying his unconscious brother around.  
This time was special though because Merle wasn't drunk, stoned, or dealing with the results of a fight caused by his mouth overloading his ass.  
No, Merle had managed to get his forearm caught in an old trap hidden deep in the woods and after a particularly creative string of curses had gone white as a sheet and dropped.  
(For all the times Merle had called Daryl a pussy Daryl considered this karma and his brotherly duty was to remind his big brother every chance he could.)  
Daryl wasn't sure if he should leave the trap or try and pry it open.  
The teeth of the trap were horribly rusted but what if the pressure was the only thing keeping Merle from bleeding out?  
Deciding to err on the side of caution Daryl half-dragged, half-carried his only family to his beat up Ford and buckled him in all the while trying not to jostle the steel clamped into his arm.  
There was only one place someone like Merle, someone like Daryl could go in this situation.  
Hershel Greene.

Hershel was well acquainted with the Dixons. In his wild days, before he got sober and became the husband and father he should have been, he could often be found drinking and brooding with Will Dixon. Even after he left that life behind he was still connected to the Dixons. He tried so hard to help Will, help him find his way but Will only sunk deeper into the bottle and managed to drag his wife and boys down with him. Hershel couldn't count the number of times Will's dead eyed wife Camille came to see him about broken ribs or a fractured jaw sometimes accompanied by a belligerent adolescent who wore his bruises proudly and a stoic little boy whose blue eyes saw more than most. It had been over a decade since Hershel had seen those eyes up close which explained the blatant look of shock on his face as he answered his door.

"Daryl!?….Wha-"  
"Merle's hurt", Daryl managed to rasp out. "Went runnin' and got caught in an old trap. I didn't…I don't"  
Hershel cut the youngest Dixon off with a firm nod.  
"Well, get him inside and we'll do what we can do."  
Hershel and Daryl were pleased to find Merle conscious and almost lucid; they were less pleased that he still managed to be an insufferable bastard.  
"Aww Darylina, 'M touched you care so much but stop lookin' like such a bitch" Merle slurred, "Almost shamed of ya".  
Heaving his brother onto an exam table in what used to be a guest bedroom Daryl took a deep breath to calm himself. You'd think dealing with Merle all his life would have made him used to the barbs and insults that regularly came out of his mouth but perfect aim was a Dixon trait and Merle always knew what rankled Daryl the most.  
As Hershel bustled into the room, arms full of medical supplies Daryl's body stilled and his muscles locked.  
"The fuck…" he muttered.  
Beneath the typical smells of a well-loved home, the farm, and the sterile smell of the exam room Daryl smelled something that made the thing inside of him twist and ache and _**need**_.  
"Daryl. **Daryl**!"  
Snapping out of his reverie Daryl met Hershel's concerned gaze.  
"Yes sir?"  
Pointing to the hinges of the steel attacked to Merle's arm the old man explained that the rust kept the trap from closing fully and mangling his brother's forearm beyond any hope of recovery.  
"Now I've already given him some morphine to help with the pain but," Hershel smiled wryly, "don't expect this to go smoothly. First things first we need to get the trap itself off".

* * *

Beth Greene considered herself an understanding person but whoever was downstairs cursing and hollering was getting on her last nerve.  
Throwing the pillow she had been using to block out the ruckus interrupting her sleep, Beth sat up with a huff and decided that going downstairs to help would be the best way to speed up the patient's treatment and get them on their way. Besides, if she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps she'd need experience with situations like this.  
Throwing off the covers the young woman immediately shivered and goose bumps spread across her pale skin. Slipping on her brother Shawn's old UGA sweatshirt Beth pulled the hood up. For some reason she was always miserable when her ears were cold. Closing her door and stepping lightly down the stairs Beth heard the familiar sound of her father's competent voice trying his best to calm the angry man who had woken her. Towards the bottom of the stairs Beth realized there was a third voice, low and rumbly making her think of thunder in the distance for a moment. The petite blonde shook her head at her own ridiculousness and stopped in front of the makeshift exam room. As she opened her mouth to offer her father help Beth locked eyes with the dark man at Hershel's side. Her breath caught at the wild look written so plainly on his face and if she hadn't been so mesmerized she would have turned and run.

* * *

Daryl often wondered if Merle was worth it.  
He loved him and blood was blood but getting punched in the gut while his brother was getting stitched up and yelling like a madman made Daryl wish, not for the first time, that he'd been an only child.  
It didn't help that he knew Merle couldn't stay out of trouble to save his life.  
In his defense, Merle only landed the punch because Daryl was still so damn distracted by that smell he kept catching. That beautiful, amazing, fucking perfect scent he just wanted to curl up in and keep for himself.  
"Son, you're going to need to hold him down so I can finish stitching him properly. I'll give him one more shot to help him deal with it"  
Looking directly at Merle Hershel quirked an eyebrow and said, "If you don't stop thrashing about you'll pull your stitches and I'll have to do them all over again".  
Clenching his jaw and visibly resisting the urge to spew vitriol at the old man Merle managed to settle down.  
Hershel Greene was one of the few men Daryl respected and at that moment he liked him better than any man he knew. Seeing his brother cowed down was a rare event and for it to be done by a 70 year old human just made it even better.  
As the extra morphine began to work it's magic Daryl watched Merle relax and he didn't even react when the final stitches were made or when Hershel gave him a tetanus shot.  
The shot wasn't really necessary given their particular physiology but when Daryl mentioned it Hershel simply shrugged.  
"Better safe than sorry."  
Grabbing a nearby blanket Daryl covered his brother and went to help Hershel clean up when he heard the stairs creak and a light tread coming close.  
As he turned to look his back snapped taut and his eyes went impossibly wide.  
The scent, **that scent**, was standing in front of him and he'd never seen anything so glorious in his life.  
She was small, fine-boned, and almost drowning in the red sweatshirt she was wearing. Creamy pale skin and waves of golden hair peaking out from the hood she'd pulled up. Her eyes were so blue and he couldn't breathe her in deep enough.  
She smelled like cotton fields and sunshine and the orchards at the beginning of peach season.  
She smelled like softness, comfort, like home.  
It took every ounce of Daryl's willpower to keep still, to keep from striding over so he could bury his nose in her neck and imprint everything she was into his skin.  
His hands twitched and his jaw ached and everything inside him howled out one word.  
_**"MINE"**_

Hershel saw the way Daryl Dixon was staring at his youngest and he saw she was staring right back and at that moment he knew Beth's life would never be the same.  
A quiet chuckle interrupted his thoughts and he saw Merle smirking at him.  
Casting heavy lidded eyes towards the two Merle managed to slur out,  
"Looks like Little Red found the Big Bad Wolf".


	2. Shooting Arrows at the Sky

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to the four things that helped me off my ass to get this down. **  
**Apple moonshine, Bastille, Lady Gaga, and jaimek45.**  
**Without you this would still be trapped in my mind along with all the other shadows and monsters.**

**A big thank you goes to: MigratingCoconuts06, , , sparrow149. InuFan24-7, AliKattz, ItsNotEZ, lithriel23, and my three wonderful guests.**  
**I may not know your name but I do know you're sexy. **

* * *

_That boy is a monster…_

Two figures stood still; eyes locked through a doorway as if nothing in the world existed beyond each other. The stark contrast between the two was mesmerizing. A tall dark man almost bristling with leashed power and a small young woman, pale and golden and made to love.

Beth was starting to worry that she was having a stroke because her brain was definitely not working correctly. The only thing that was registering in her mind was a strange sense of belonging and a faint voice telling her to run from the predator in front of her.

The girl, **his **girl was unaware that she was in a world of trouble. The slightest tremble shook her svelte frame and his mouth quirked at the sudden thought of wolves and rabbits.

Daryl was so content to memorize the planes and curves of her face (he should really learn her name soon) that he was shocked when he heard Hershel's polite cough.

Her father's face was no-nonsense, "Beth, sweetie, I'm already done down here. Go back upstairs. Mr. Dixon and I need to talk things over for a bit.".

Beth rarely defied her father but she was so curious and she desperately wanted to know more about the handsome scruffy man who's eyes never left her. While trying to think of a way to sway her dad to let her stay Beth grew livid when the stranger looked her up and down, smirked, and rumbled, "G'on now girl. Need to talk to your daddy.".

Daryl thought she was beautiful when she froze in front of him, entranced and disheveled but the girl….Beth was fucking magnificent in her anger. Her narrowed blue eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed in such a way he couldn't not think of what it'd be like to cause that beautiful rosy color all over. The smell of her fury was intoxicating and it only grew headier as he grinned at her. Beth let out a growl that frankly impressed Daryl and turned away in a huff to stomp upstairs muttering about being treated like a child. Watching as she went up the stairs Daryl smirked inwardly and thought, "No one with hips like that could ever be a child.".

The sound of Beth's door slamming filled Daryl with horror because now he realized he was alone with Hershel. Alone with his mate's father and he was finally going to experience the terror of "the talk". Hershel knew it too. The corner of his mouth lifted and his eyes were filled with a compelling mix of amusement, resignation, and ferocity. He may not be able to stop this now that it had started but he'd be damned if he stood by and let his little girl go to a man he wasn't absolutely sure would love her like she should be. Hershel clapped Daryl on the shoulder and led him to the kitchen,

"Now your brother will be out for the rest of the night and I do believe we have some things to discuss, don't we son?"

Daryl Dixon was a fighter, a hunter, a predator at the top of the food chain and all he could manage was a jerky nod as his throat closed up and refused to work for him. He respected Hershel and liked him more than 98% of all the people he'd ever met and how could he look him in the eye and tell him that his genetics had told him that Hershel's baby girl was his mate and he wanted nothing more than to rub his scent **all **over her skin and keep her close so he'd never have to feel so empty and alone again? Were there even words to tell her father all that Beth represented to him?

Daryl started as Hershel slid a plate of leftovers in front of him and the old man eased himself onto one of the kitchen island's stools. "Annette still cooks as though we still had a full house." Hershel looked beyond weary as he stretched his aching hands in front of him. "I'm not as young as I used to be" he groaned. Moments passed and as the silence grew thicker Daryl took the opportunity to stuff himself with Mrs. Greene's home cooking. It wasn't often he got the chance to eat food that didn't come from the dollar menu or was processed to the point of being radioactive. With a sigh Hershel turned and caught Daryl's eye. "Do you know why I'm one of the few humans the Mac Tire, the Shifters trust?"

Daryl swallowed the obnoxiously large mouthful of greens and shook his head. This wasn't really how he thought these talks were supposed to go but he wouldn't put it past Hershel to try and lull him into a false sense of security before neutering him.

"In Georgia, in the 1960s wolves were….well the technical term is extirpated but that's just a fancy way to say they were hunted to extinction within the state. Farmers and hunters around here were tired of losing their hogs and wild game so they sent out groups to slaughter as many as they could. Some even offered money for wolf pelts as incentive." Hershel laughed bitterly, "My father even led some of these hunts. There I was, a 23 year old veterinary student and my father was helping to slaughter a species and I couldn't stand it."

Daryl's eyes were wide and he could almost taste the old man's regret and pain.

There was steel in Hershel's voice when he continued. "So I found out when those men were going to have their hunts and I'd do my best to block the footpaths. And when that didn't work I'd follow behind the hunters and bring the wolves that still had life left in them back to an old outbuilding we used for storage." Smiling gently, Hershel's eyes were unfocused and nostalgic. "You don't know what it's like to leave a sleeping wolf and come back to find a man. That was the beginning. I know just how much a Shifter values loyalty. My farm is protected and kept safe from predators and poachers and all I have to do is what I would do anyway."

Daryl's back stiffened when Hershel's gaze turned hard.

"So you understand I am fully aware of what my daughter is to you and what will happen now." uttered Hershel as his eyes turned positively glacial.

To look at him you would never think that badass Daryl Dixon, he of the leather and motor oil, was panicking. He couldn't be kept from Beth. He **needed** her but if he fought with Hershel Beth might get angry and this entire situation was making his head hurt and his muscles twitch with the need to run until he was exhausted.

Looking at Daryl's clenched fists and white knuckles Hershel shook his head and smiled almost mockingly.

"But I won't keep her from you or vice versa."

The young man looked up through shaggy bangs and held his breath as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

Sliding off his stool Hershel swiped Daryl's empty plate and took it to the sink. As he rinsed it off he looked over his shoulder. "She's my daughter, my youngest and I'd be a poor excuse of a father if I didn't lay down some ground rules. She's just 19 and you will treat her with all the respect and care she deserves or I will make sure you become acquainted with the business end of my old Remington."

Daryl was truly in fight or flight mode as he tracked Hershel's movements. The old gentlemen dried his hands and went to stand in front of him.

"I'm giving you a chance but that's all I can do. I can't make her love you. Honestly, no one can make Beth do anything" Hershel chuckled. He grasped Daryl by the shoulder and led him to the bottom of the stairs.

"Now, I am giving you five minutes to go upstairs, introduce yourself, and apologize for being rude."

Daryl went to argue but Hershel shook his head.

"This is your chance. I'll even give you a piece of advice that has gotten me through two marriages," Hershel was grinning now at the poorly concealed interest in his daughter's prospective mate's face.

"You are a man and you are always wrong and the sooner you can accept that the sooner you can have a happy life."

Chewing viciously on his thumbnail Daryl squared his shoulders and walked up the stairs, pausing mid-step he looked back, "Thank you" he mumbled awkwardly.

Hershel merely nodded and said, "Five minutes, door **open** or I'll put you in an E-Collar."

* * *

He didn't need any help to find Beth's room. Daryl simply followed that mouthwatering scent until he stood in front of a nondescript white door. He'd never gone to church and he cursed the fact that he didn't know any prayers because honestly Daryl could use some help. He was gruff and he knew getting him to have a conversation was like pulling teeth. He couldn't, **wouldn't** screw this up though.

Beth was braiding her messy hair when someone knocked softly on her bedroom door. Wrinkling her brow she grumbled out, "Come in" around the hair tie in her mouth. The door gently swung open. A gasp lodged in her throat as she locked onto her face. Beth couldn't name all the emotions that` flickered over the strange man's face and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"He….hello?"

As Daryl opened her door Beth's scent hit him like a sledgehammer. It was so pure, so concentrated that he couldn't think beyond laying down at her feet for the rest of his days so he could breathe her in until his lungs burst. Her stuttered, hesitant greeting brought him back to himself. He smiled at her politely as he almost crushed the doorknob in his anxiety.

"Hello Beth"

* * *

Dun **Dun D****UNNNNNNNNNN!**


End file.
